Persian Wars:

Battle of
Thermopylae
 Context: Persian Wars
• The Persian Wars began during 490 – 479 BCE.
King Darius was looking to expand and in doing so
set his eyes on Greece.
• The Persian wars contained many battles, both
Land and Sea Battles.
• The Persian Wars would see multiple battles happen
with both Greek and Persian victories seen.
• Although the Persians had the larger army, the
Greeks working together to fight off the Persians
would see them victorious. Other strategies
included for Greek victory are seen through the
Greek’s knowledge, armour, and strategies.
 Who was involved?
• The battle involved both Greeks and Persians.
• The Persian army was considerably larger than
the Greeks, Historians suggest that the Persian
army was likely 1.7 Million in total. The Greek
army size was much smaller seen around 350’000
Men.
• Although the Greeks were split into city-states,
the Athenians created the Delian League for the
Persian wars, which brought groups of Greek
city-states which including Sparta, Cos, and
Ionia (These were just some).
• During the beginning of the Persian Wars the
Persians were led by King Darius and later when
Darius died it would be King Xerxes.
 Armour and
Strategies
• The Greeks were greatly more equipped
for battle than the Persian forces
• The Greeks wore greaves, a cuirass (breast
plate) and helmet while the Persians wore
little to no armour
• Greeks armed with a spear, sword and
bronze shield, while the Persians
possessed a long spear, short sword,
wicker shield and some a bow and arrow
 Strategy
• The Persian tactics relied heavily on the
archers decimating their adversaries and the
cavalry advancing to secure a submission
before hand-to-hand combat broke out
• The Greek tactic however relied on
fighting in tight spaces. In the image, the
Greeks use the phalanx strategy, which
allowed for a tight defense that was quite
impenetrable. The phalanx allowed for
Greek and Spartans to fight off a larger
army like the Persians.
 The Battle of Thermopylae
• The battle of Thermopylae occurred in 480 BCE in a mountain
pass in Greece during the Persian Wars.
• Spartans and Athenians fought during the battle led by King
Leonidas.
• The Greek army consisted of about 7,000 men, while the Persian
army may have had as many as 300,000. The Greek army is seen
to have around 500 Spartans and the rest were Athenians and
other Greeks. Although ancient historian Thucydides suggested
the army to be over 1.7 Million.
• At the same time, the Greek fleet managed to hold off the Persians
at the indecisive naval battle at Artemision. Together, these battles
bought Greece time and allowed its cities to evacuate.
• The strategy at Thermopylae was for the Greeks to fight in a
narrow mountain pass as it would allow for the small number of
Greeks to hold off fewer Persians.
 Research Activity
You create a Movie Poster for a new movie
on the Battle of Thermopylae. Which
describes the events of The Battle of
Thermopylae.
Your Movie Poster must show:
• What happened during the battle?
• Who was involved in the battle?
• Who were prominent figures during the
battle?
Looking at the
film 300
Watch the following movie
clips and take note of if the
Film is accurate to the actual
story of Thermopylae.
Look at things like:
• Clothing/Armour
• Strategy
• Who was involved
Accuracy of the
film – Discussion
How accurate is the
film ‘300’ to the
actual events at
Thermopylae?